1.) The CIA estimates less than 100 Al Quaeda members still exist somewhere in Afghanistan.
2.) There is no set enemy- a continuing policy of the Bush administration.
3.) It requires a string of alliances with highly corrupt drug dealing regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
4.) Thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan have died.
5.) While attempting to instill 'peace and democracy' and so on, the country is now on the verge of becoming a failed state.
6.) The Taliban (the conservatives of the muslim world) is a terrible regime, as seen from western eyes, but that is no excuse to literally demolish their entire society.
7.) The whole rationale is flawed. When the militant conservatives bombed the government building in Oklahoma, the goal was not to send a wave of troops to Oklahoma. The same can be applied to Afghanistan.
8.) None of the plane hijackers on 9/11 were Afghans (in fact most were Saudi Arabian- an extremely repressive regime that the U.S. has vehemently supported for decades in exchange for corporate use of their vast oil fields).
9.) Who are we fighting and what are we fighting for? -questions the mainstream media routinely fail to ask.
10.) This is not a war, but rather another failed attempt to 'nation build' in places where the western way of life is despised.
11.) The occupation fuels insurgency movements, the Taliban (like in Iraq and Vietnem).
12.) While funding billions for soldiers to fight in Afghanistan, the government can barely tackle the most important problems back in the U.S. (the economic turmoil, lack of funding for public education, about 45 million american citizens without affordable health care, thousands of homes being foreclosed on, jobs being outsourced to more affordable places like China and Canada, decline of the auto industry, air pollution, water pollution, grossly excessive carbon emissions...)
Tuesday
Where did all the decent people go?
37 million people go routinely without access to health care in America (and that number has risen greatly with the recent economic collapse). In 2003 the number rose to 45 million.
Why?
The reasons are not complicated, thousands die every year simply because they cannot afford to buy medical insurance.
Story after heart wrenching story about so-and-so who has cancer and is living in a tent because she had to sell her house in order to afford chemotherapy, or Mr. Smith who badly needs a liver transplant but he lost his job, and therefore has no access to heath care. Better hope these people don't catch a cold, or trip on their way home.
What the hell is going on here?
We live in the self professed wealthiest country in the world, but allow the poorest class to suffer and die, below the international poverty line?
Several years ago the World Health Organization ranked U.S. health care 37th among nations. 37th. Well behind any other industrial country in the world, and behind some other much poorer countries.
Why is this allowed to happen? Countries like Denmark, Canada, France, China, Sweden... all pay much less on health care coverage, and at the same time provide coverage to every citizen (either free or at a greatly reduced cost).
It is not a "wait-time" issue or an "illegal immigrant" issue; it is a moral issue, and thus far the United States stands alone, defiantly stating no, only the most affluent deserve to be treated for their afflictions.
But what do these health insurance lobbyists care? Billions of dollars are paid to exclusively own the Republican party and much of the Democratic party.
Why?
The reasons are not complicated, thousands die every year simply because they cannot afford to buy medical insurance.
Story after heart wrenching story about so-and-so who has cancer and is living in a tent because she had to sell her house in order to afford chemotherapy, or Mr. Smith who badly needs a liver transplant but he lost his job, and therefore has no access to heath care. Better hope these people don't catch a cold, or trip on their way home.
What the hell is going on here?
We live in the self professed wealthiest country in the world, but allow the poorest class to suffer and die, below the international poverty line?
Several years ago the World Health Organization ranked U.S. health care 37th among nations. 37th. Well behind any other industrial country in the world, and behind some other much poorer countries.
Why is this allowed to happen? Countries like Denmark, Canada, France, China, Sweden... all pay much less on health care coverage, and at the same time provide coverage to every citizen (either free or at a greatly reduced cost).
It is not a "wait-time" issue or an "illegal immigrant" issue; it is a moral issue, and thus far the United States stands alone, defiantly stating no, only the most affluent deserve to be treated for their afflictions.
But what do these health insurance lobbyists care? Billions of dollars are paid to exclusively own the Republican party and much of the Democratic party.
Friday
Bullshit: Or Why I Don't Understand Conservatism
1.) The Free Market- There is nothing democratic or competitive about it.
2.) Conservatives often claim to believe in less government spending.
That's admirable, but which programs specifically? The $3 billion in aid to Israel every year so that it can systematically destroy Palestine? or how about the billions spent on unused, untested military equipment?
3.) Conservatives tend to believe in smaller government.
Ok. What part of the government. The CIA, which has routinely made a habit of overthrowing democracies around the world to instill military coups?-Iran, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Vietnem, Chile... Or how about the National Security Council which has found, since world war two, urgent national security threats all over the world that have virtually nothing to do with the homeland.
4.) Conservatives overzealously glorify America. 'One Nation under God' (a phrase not developed until the fifties), 'The founding fathers' (which founding father? They were not one unit and often disagreed on many things), 'honest hard-working Americans' (the people being put out of jobs and forced into manual labor as a result of free trade and the free market etc).
5.) Conservatives are generally jingoists that see pacifism as some sort of weakness.
6.) The ideal conservative government is one which dismantles as much of the government as possible- including social welfare programs.
7.) In a fairly recent pew poll, it was found that red states have considerably lower IQs than blue states.
8.) Quick to attack anything that might be a communist, socialist, fascist, anti-american, terrorist, illegal immigrant; as if they are all the same thing.
9.) Historically, conservative regimes elsewhere in the world have been extremely oppressive: Pinochet, Hitler, Suharto, (Any U.S. President since McKinley), Ayatollah Khomeni...
10.) American conservatives tend to be staunch christians- to the point that they don't accept scientific consensus on things like biological evolution, or the effects of mass carbon emissions.
11.) Often refuse to participate in government, that "gets in the way".
12.) Not always true but they tend to oppose the rights of gays, and equality for ethnic minorities.
13.) For some reason they don't accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (one of the most published documents in history) and don't believe that health care is a right for all, not a priviledge for the wealthy.
14.) There is some sense of hyper-patriotism and false honor in conservatism.
Its no wonder the rest of the world literally laughs at the United States, we are one of the last remaining hard core conservative nations on the planet. Latin America has seen a wave of democratically anti-American leaders, The Middle East is violently against the United States exploitation of their people and resources that they formed civilian "terrorist organizations", Africans see America as ignorant and arrogant, Europeans just seem to laugh at our media, political structure, and seemingly narrow view of the outside world.
Why don't we have a labor party in this country, like every other industrial nation?
Why is it that tens of thousands die without health care in the United States every year?
Why is there so much greed and arrogance?
We have two parties in this country. Republicans and Democrats- both are very conservative, and neither truly reflects the views of the general public.
You want to know what conservatism has done to this country? Look around. Small towns are slowly beig destroyed, evolving into the homogenized culture of Wal-Marts and McDonalds and Starbucks. This country has initiated more wars in the last fifty years than any other. Nobody looks to America as a shining beacon of freedom, because we fell behind the rest of the world.
Bottom line- there are many things wrong with the way America is functioning and we need to face them now.
2.) Conservatives often claim to believe in less government spending.
That's admirable, but which programs specifically? The $3 billion in aid to Israel every year so that it can systematically destroy Palestine? or how about the billions spent on unused, untested military equipment?
3.) Conservatives tend to believe in smaller government.
Ok. What part of the government. The CIA, which has routinely made a habit of overthrowing democracies around the world to instill military coups?-Iran, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Vietnem, Chile... Or how about the National Security Council which has found, since world war two, urgent national security threats all over the world that have virtually nothing to do with the homeland.
4.) Conservatives overzealously glorify America. 'One Nation under God' (a phrase not developed until the fifties), 'The founding fathers' (which founding father? They were not one unit and often disagreed on many things), 'honest hard-working Americans' (the people being put out of jobs and forced into manual labor as a result of free trade and the free market etc).
5.) Conservatives are generally jingoists that see pacifism as some sort of weakness.
6.) The ideal conservative government is one which dismantles as much of the government as possible- including social welfare programs.
7.) In a fairly recent pew poll, it was found that red states have considerably lower IQs than blue states.
8.) Quick to attack anything that might be a communist, socialist, fascist, anti-american, terrorist, illegal immigrant; as if they are all the same thing.
9.) Historically, conservative regimes elsewhere in the world have been extremely oppressive: Pinochet, Hitler, Suharto, (Any U.S. President since McKinley), Ayatollah Khomeni...
10.) American conservatives tend to be staunch christians- to the point that they don't accept scientific consensus on things like biological evolution, or the effects of mass carbon emissions.
11.) Often refuse to participate in government, that "gets in the way".
12.) Not always true but they tend to oppose the rights of gays, and equality for ethnic minorities.
13.) For some reason they don't accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (one of the most published documents in history) and don't believe that health care is a right for all, not a priviledge for the wealthy.
14.) There is some sense of hyper-patriotism and false honor in conservatism.
Its no wonder the rest of the world literally laughs at the United States, we are one of the last remaining hard core conservative nations on the planet. Latin America has seen a wave of democratically anti-American leaders, The Middle East is violently against the United States exploitation of their people and resources that they formed civilian "terrorist organizations", Africans see America as ignorant and arrogant, Europeans just seem to laugh at our media, political structure, and seemingly narrow view of the outside world.
Why don't we have a labor party in this country, like every other industrial nation?
Why is it that tens of thousands die without health care in the United States every year?
Why is there so much greed and arrogance?
We have two parties in this country. Republicans and Democrats- both are very conservative, and neither truly reflects the views of the general public.
You want to know what conservatism has done to this country? Look around. Small towns are slowly beig destroyed, evolving into the homogenized culture of Wal-Marts and McDonalds and Starbucks. This country has initiated more wars in the last fifty years than any other. Nobody looks to America as a shining beacon of freedom, because we fell behind the rest of the world.
Bottom line- there are many things wrong with the way America is functioning and we need to face them now.
Sunday
A Confession
The following is a confession to the fellow organisms of this planet.
I belong to the human race- those upright creatures.
Yes, it is true, we are indeed an arrogant, ignorant bunch and for that I'm sorry.
But our goals are not aligned with your species' survival, nor your well-being. This natural world, on which you depend so greatly, is of little value in contrast to our economic growth and industrial expansionism.
Collectively we believe in destruction to satisfy our individual temporary urges. Aesthetics over livelihood.
We have developed the most highly mechanized processes by which to manufacture and distribute your kind like a commodity to the saturated markets. You've never heard of it, but in the bible god ordained all of the animals under the posession of man, and we can do whatever we like with your huddled masses. After all, wouldn't it be nice to be a mcdonalds cheeseburger someday?
Just remember: you are not a creature, you are not composed of the same cells as us humans, you are not of value to this planet. You do not have similar superior cranial capacities to us humans, therefore your life and suffering is marginal.
And when you are being bred and slaughtered unnecessarily to our benefit, remember that it is for the good of humankind.
godammit
-john
I belong to the human race- those upright creatures.
Yes, it is true, we are indeed an arrogant, ignorant bunch and for that I'm sorry.
But our goals are not aligned with your species' survival, nor your well-being. This natural world, on which you depend so greatly, is of little value in contrast to our economic growth and industrial expansionism.
Collectively we believe in destruction to satisfy our individual temporary urges. Aesthetics over livelihood.
We have developed the most highly mechanized processes by which to manufacture and distribute your kind like a commodity to the saturated markets. You've never heard of it, but in the bible god ordained all of the animals under the posession of man, and we can do whatever we like with your huddled masses. After all, wouldn't it be nice to be a mcdonalds cheeseburger someday?
Just remember: you are not a creature, you are not composed of the same cells as us humans, you are not of value to this planet. You do not have similar superior cranial capacities to us humans, therefore your life and suffering is marginal.
And when you are being bred and slaughtered unnecessarily to our benefit, remember that it is for the good of humankind.
godammit
-john
Friday
O Come All Ye Faithful
Today is Christmas. A holiday constructed on fraudulence.
A superman was born 2009 years ago on this date: December 25th (which is widely disputed).
He argued against the pleasures of the flesh, so we celebrate by consuming the most inane bullshit we can find on the racks at Wal-Mart (mostly made by underpaid and overworked chinese factory workers).
Somewhere along the line, trees with lights (originally derived from ancient pagan rituals) became associated as well.
Throw in some animatronic lawn ornaments, the attendance of some church service, and repetitive songs about jesus and buying colorful things etc. and there you have the greatest neo-protestant celebration in the western world.
Christianity's justification for excessive consumerism- Santa Claus. The lie that some unseen being is constantly watching you and making sure your morals are in check with his, otherwise there will be no extravagent reward later on. Sounds like some other fabricated being we have all heard of...
Thursday
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
Here it is ladies and gentlemen; the height of corporate greed, or neoconservatism (i.e. the opulent vs the majority), for further reference on this topic seek out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
All free and available information on the U.S. senate's website:
The infamous oil lobby by which the United States Congress has abided these past few years/decades/century and half. For other notable lobbies search "Israel", "Food", "Insurance", or even "Military" and watch the hundreds of thousands of dollars become millions, some with more than seven digit figures.
Israel-AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Comittee)
Insurance-America's Health Insurance Plans INC
Environmental-U.S. Chamber of Commerce
And so on...
Nothing screams inequality like an explosive monopoly on "democratic" election funds and all governmental activities.
Special thanks to the Lobbying Disclosure Act (1995)
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